Will Minecraft and MakerBot Usher in the Post-Scarcity Economy?
>> MIKE: Here’s an idea: Minecraft and the MakerBot are ushering in the post-scarcity economy. theme Even if you’re not an indie game nerd, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve heard of Minecraft. Developed by Mojang, Minecraft is sort of like Legos meets the Sims meets Night of the Living Dead with a little splash of Dwarf Fortress. If you’ve never played Dwarf Fortress, go play it right now, and then come back. Okay, so Minecraft. It has two modes of play. The first is called Adventure Mode where you’re just kind of like plopped down in the middle of nowhere and left to figure it out. You can punch trees to get wood, you can can build tools, you build a house, you defend it from monsters. You dig and punch and craft and dig. And don’t get eaten by monsters. There’s no tidy ending to the game. And there’s no real goals so it’s just like real life. And in keeping with real lifeness, when you use something, it’s gone. Because resources are limited. Creative Mode however is a little different. There are no monsters. And you conjure unlimited resources out of thin air. Like, poof: diamond. All day long. I’m rich, I tells ya, I’m rich! Which means with a little ingenuity, some patience and the help of some nifty programs, you can make whatever you like, free of worry. But more than being an infinite Erector Set, Minecraft’s creative mode demonstrates a really interesting, theoretical economic concept: the Post-Scarcity Economy. In case you haven’t read Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow, I’m about to explain. Modern economics is built on the idea of scarcity. If I buy a car, its mine and there is now one less car for sale. And that car, it costs money, because it’s made out of stuff that’s not free in that it takes works to get and that we can run out of. Now, ready your brain muscle... Imagine if that wasn’t the case. Imagine if we could make cars, houses, computers, food, everything, without losing resources. This seemingly far fetched situation is called the Post-Scarcity Economy and Minecraft demonstrates it perfectly. In Adventure Mode, like in real life, resources are scarce. In Creative Mode, everyone is totally free of want. So what do they do? They’re certainly not going to work, like manually chopping down trees or hunting pigs because they don’t have to. I mean, you could if you wanted to, but you probably want to spend your time making giant mansions, huge statues, the Taj Mahal, roller coasters or scale models of... Earth. singing Now, I know what you’re thinking, because I can read your mind, there will never be a time when we can just make whatever we want. Alright, maybe not. But also, maybe yeah. Allow me to introduce you to the MakerBot. It’s a little robot that makes stuff. Let’s say you have a 3-D model of a Creeper. You just push a button, wait a little while and then, blammo, you have a Creeper, in real life. Except it’s not the one that explodes, don’t worry. Not into Creepers? That’s cool, how about custom jewelry, clothing, historical artifacts, famous works of art or burritos. Engineers have sussed out ways to 3-D print things like edible meat, human organs, prosthetic bone and even totally new chemical compounds. And those chemical compounds, they were printed on a machine that only cost two thousand dollars, that’s about as much as a nice iMac. No, we’re not quite at nanorobots or matter transmongerthingydoobers yet. But the MakerBot and its pals, the desktop CNC machine and the benchtop laser cutter, really are bringing manufacturing right into your home, place, spot. Just maybe not organ manufacturing, which is probably a good thing. Add to this the fact that AutoDesk has released a piece of software which will let you make a 3-D scan of any object using your iPhone and that websites like Thingiverse and The Pirate Bay’s physibles database means that you can share every object you make. I could literally email you a spoon. I hope that blows your mind. Because it blows mine. But, yes, you’re right, MakerBot still needs plastic, which though plentiful is a finite resource as are the parts that make up the MakerBot, but it is pretty easy to turn this future frown upside down. playing If we think of Minecraft as a kind of proto-Post-Scarcity caricature and MakerBot as a kind of proto-Whatever that machine in the Jetson’s is called, it becomes pretty clear that for as long as Moore’s Law is true, this stuff will only get cheaper, more powerful and easier to use. While it might not happen in my lifetime, maybe my grandkids will be printing out functional pianos, edible foods or gun firing life size models of the USS Enterprise. What do you guys think? What does a post-scarcity economy even look like? And does the MakerBot play a roll? Let us know in the comments. And... ding There were a lot of really great fan fic thoughts. Let’s see what you guys had to say: Choomanama asks if a Game of Thrones fan fic would be less sexual... claps Probably not. A couple people point out that The Bible might actually be source of the first fan fiction. I totally agree and I’m really looking forward to zombie Jesus action movie that’s coming out this summer. byulmnida offered to write a fan fic about me and any YouTuber of my choice so I thought really long and hard about it and I chose Shannon Coffey from Coffey Chat. >> SHANNON: Shannon’s here. >> MIKE: So Shannon came over to help us brainstorm some ideas to help you get started, byulmnida, so here they are. Setting, like wild west? >> SHANNON: Yeah, yeah, except no guns. >> MIKE: Hm, okay. Just guitars. >> SHANNON: There’s just, you know horses. And guitars. >> MIKE: Okay. >> SHANNON: Maybe these horses are really good musicians. >> MIKE: We’re accidentally writing this fan fiction for you... >> SHANNON: Yeah, you do the work. >> MIKE: Bank heist. >> SHANNON: We steal a bunch of popcorn out of a bank. >> MIKE: The Popcorn Bank. >> SHANNON: One day we wake up and we’re covered in polka dots... It’s a new disease and we gotta cure it! >> MIKE: snickers I would like to have a pencil thin moustache. >> SHANNON: It’s a mystery! >> MIKE: The moustache is the mystery. >> SHANNON: What about a Rom. Com.? But with no romance. >> MIKE: Just the Com. Freddy Krueger style. I don’t look that good in stripes. >> SHANNON: I look great with pizza skin. Watcha! >> MIKE: Alright, so there are some ideas to help you get started. We’ll look for something in our email. The link is right over there. And for everyone else, if you don’t watch Coffey Chat, you should. Watch it. Shannon is very funny. She will beat you up. theme Category:English Category:Complete